Ben Stokes reacts to Alex Hales’ return for T20 World Cup 2022

Alex Hales in action for England in 2018 (PC: Twitter)

Alex Hales has been called back into the English side, replacing injured Jonny Bairstow, for the T20I World Cup in Australia next month. The cricketer will also tour Pakistan for a seven-match T20I series prior to the showpiece event ‘Down Under’.

Following the announcement, England’s Test skipper Ben Stokes gave his take on Hales’ return, and described the white-ball specialist as one of the “best T20 players in the world”.

Ben Stokes hails Alex Hales ahead of T20 World Cup

When asked to give his thoughts on Hales' return, Test captain Stokes lavished praise on the batter for his record in T20 cricket. He said:

“Alex is definitely one of the best T20 players in the world and unfortunately after what happened with Jonny we had to pull another guy up. Alex is definitely one of the guys bowlers don’t want to be bowling at in the T20 format.”

The dynamic all-rounder also spoke about Jonny Bairstow’s injury, and described it as an opportunity for someone else to rise up to the challenge for England.

Both Hales and Stokes have been said to have a strained relationship with each following their involvement in 2017’s late night brawl in Bristol. However, the Test elite played down any previous issues and said the team’s focus is to win games at the T20 World Cup.

“I’ve not been in the leadership capacity in the white-ball group for however long. I’ve obviously been resting and stuff like that. But when it comes down to the big moments in games and World Cup games, knockout games, you want your best players there to be taking that pressure on and he certainly is one of those.”

Hales recently won the Hundred Men’s competition with Trent Rockets, defeating Manchester Originals in a high-octane final. His return for series in Pakistan will mark his first set of internationals for England since his side’s 2019 tour of West Indies.

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